Statement provides hedge against inflation remaining below target...

• The Bank of Canada left the overnight rate unchanged at 1.00% as expected.
• The Bank says monitoring data to determine “timing and direction of the next change to the policy rate.”
• It reiterated that overall balance of risks in same “zone” as October.
• Today’s statement, while on the margin more upbeat on the growth outlook than in previous months, hammered home the Bank’s concerns about inflation...

I called Graham on a whim because he had a home listed that we were interested in seeing. But once he found out exactly what we were looking for, he began to work for us. He was very diligent in finding the home that would be most suitable. We usually work with realtors who are recommended to us by friends or family. We didn't know anything about Graham. But he certainly proved himself by being quick, personable, accommodating, sincere, honest and positive. He was assertive in the negotiation process...

Happy New Year.

I hope you had a festive and safe holiday season.

For your review I have included a link below to the Real Estate activity statistics as provided by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.

http://www.ereb.com/News&Events/LatestMarketStatistics.html

If there is even a small chance that a Real Estate purchase or sale is on the horizon for you or someone you know in 2014 now is the time to have an initial conversation and even start to put a strategy in place...

Affordability levels in Alberta remained relatively attractive in the third quarter of 2013, with measures standing below their historical averages and the national averages, according to the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report issued by RBC Economics Research.

Alberta's strong provincial economy and rapidly rising population continue to fuel housing market activity -- third quarter home resales increased by 7.8 % from the second quarter, the fastest pace in nearly three years,"...

CMHC has released their fall 2013 rent report indicating a hot rental market and employment growth for the Edmonton region.

In the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), the apartment vacancy rate declined to 1.4 percent in October 2013, down from 1.7 per cent a year prior. This represents the fourth consecutive year that the apartment vacancy rate declined in Edmonton. Although the rental universe increased since October 2012, stronger demand for rental units outpaced the growth in the purposebuilt...